John 5:19-30: Condemnation or Life?

5:19

Therefore Jesus answered [3S 1 Aor Mid Indic apokrinomai] and was saying [3S Impf Act Indic lego] to them, Truly, truly I say [1S Pres Act Indic lego] to you, the Son is not able [3S Pres Mid Indic dunamai] to do [Pres Act Inf poieo] by himself nothing, but only what he sees [3S Pres Act Subj blepo] the Father doing [Acc MS Pres Act Part poieo]. For whatever he does [3S Pres Act Subj poieo], these things also the Son likewise does [3S Pres Act Indic poieo]. 20For the Father loves [3S Pres Act Indic phileo] the Son and all things he shows [3S Pres Act Indic deiknuo] to him what/that he is doing [3S Pres Act Indic poieo], and greater works than these he will show [3S Fut Act Indic deiknuo] to him, that you [pl] may marvel [2P Pres Act Subj thaumazo]. 21For just as the Father raises up [3S Pres Act Indic egeiro] the dead and makes them alive [3S Pres Act Indic zoopoieo], so also the Son makes alive [3S Pres Act Indic zoopoieo] whom he will [3S Pres Act Indic thelo]. 22For the Father does not judge [3S Pres Act Indic krino] no one, but all judgment he has given [3S Perf Act Indic didomi] to the Son, 23that all might honor [3S Pres Act Subj timao] the Son, just as all honor [3S Pres Act Indic timao] the Father. The not-honoringthe-Son-one [Nom MS Pres Act Part timao] does not honor [3S Pres Act Indic timao] the Father, the having-sent-him-One [Acc MS 1 Aor Act Part pempo]. 24Truly, truly I say [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to him that the hearing-my-word-one [Nom MS Pres Act Part akouo] and believing [Nom MS Pres Act Part pisteuo] in the having-sent-me-One [Dat MS 1 Aor Act Part pempo] has [3S Pres Act Indic echo] eternal life, and unto judgment he does not come [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai], but he has passed [3S Perf Act Indic metabaino] from death unto life.
25

Truly, truly I say [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to you that the hour is coming [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai], and now is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] when the dead will hear [3P Fut Act Indic akouo] the voice of the Son of God, and those hearing-ones [Nom MP 1 Aor Act Part akouo] will live [3P Fut Act Indic zao]. 26For just as the Father has [3S Pres Act Indic echo] life in himself, so also to the Son he gave [3S 1 Aor Act Indic didomi] to have [Pres Act Inf echo] life in himself. 27And power/authority [exousian] he gave [3S 1 Aor Act Indic didomi] to him to execute [Pres Act Inf poieo] judgment, for he is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] the Son of Man. 28Do not marvel [MP Pres Act Impv thaumazo] at this, for the hour is coming [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai] in which all those in graves will hear [3P Fut Act Indic akouo] his voice 29and shall come forth [3P Fut Mid Indic ekporeuomai], those who did [Nom MP 1 Aor Act Part poieo] good unto the resurrection of life, but those who practiced [Nom MP 1 Aor Act Part prasso] evil unto the resurrection of judgment.
30

I am not able [1S Pres Mid Indic dunamai] to do [Pres Act Inf poieo] by myself nothing; just as I hear [1S Pres Act Indic akouo], I judge [1S Pres Act Indic krino], and my judgment is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] righteous, for I do not seek [1S Pres Act Indic zeteo] my will, but the will of the sending-me-One [Gen MS 1 Aor Act Part pempo].

Comment: The context of this passage is Jesus healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, where he essentially claimed to be God by asserting his prerogative to heal on the Sabbath, since My Father is working until now, and I am working (5:17). This of course did not sit well with the Jews: This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (5:18). Jesus speech through the rest of chapter 5 takes place in response to the fury directed against him in the wake of this Sabbath healing. 5:19-21 The Works of the Father: Jesus first explains that he does nothing on his own. He does not act as some kind of free agent, doing whatever his rogue heart might imagine. Rather, he does nothing apart from what his Father is doing:
5:19

So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. The response here accomplishes two things in Jesus conversation with the Jews. First, Jesus defends himself by asserting his obedience to the Father. He is saying that he is always only just following orders. Second, and more subtly, Jesus is condemning the Jews for rejecting the work that he is doing. If Jesus is only doing what he sees his Father is doing, then on what possible grounds could they object? As Lenski puts it, If the Son, then, be charged by the Jews with breaking the Sabbath law, the charge would strike the Father himself.1 Lenski also goes on to note the intimacy of communion between the Father and the Son: Since these two are Father and Son they also continue in intimate communion: the Son constantly sees the Father and what the Father is doing. This is predicated of the Son, not for the reason that he is inferior to the Father as the Son, but because it was he who assumed the redemptive mission, because it was he who was executing that mission in the incarnate state. As the Son in human flesh thus engaged in his mission his eyes were ever upon his Father, and no man will ever fathom the real inwardness of this seeing on the Sons part. Thus, however, Jesus asserts not only that he as Son does what the Father does, all that and only that, but also that all he thus does, he does as if the Father himself does it, for it is all and in every way the Fathers will and work.2 Lenski even pushes this intimacy beyond merely a freely chosen relationship of love, but emphasizes the impossibility of the Sons choosing something other than doing what the Father is doing: In spite of the perfect simplicity and lucidity of Jesus words their sense is often darkened or misunderstood. Jesus asserts an impossibility (ou dunatai, the negative even being re-enforced in ouden), one [page] based on the very nature of this Father and this Son. Yet some interpreters tell us that the Son might have done something of himself, but his love and his obedience held him in check. We, however, believe what Jesus says.3

1 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 379. 2 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 380. 3 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 380-81.

I am open to this theological possibility, but I would probably want to explain it along the lines of Jonathan Edwardss contrast between the natural ability and the moral ability. Humans have the natural ability to choose Christ, just as much as they have the natural ability to choose a sports team or a political cause or one product over another. Of course we can choose Christpeople do it all the time! But, we dont have the moral ability to choose Christ. Apart from the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit, our moral ability is enslaved to sin. Even if we can choose Christ, we simply do not want to. Christ, we might say, has the opposite experience: in his humanity, he had the natural ability to do something on his own (humans choose to do things apart from the Father all the time!); however, because no sin had ever corrupted him, he had no moral ability to do anything apart from what he saw his Father doing. Next, Jesus describes the intimate, relational basis in which he is able to see what his Father is doing. He says, For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel (5:20). The Son does not have a messiah complex, unlawfully imagining himself to be the appointed servant of the Fatherthe Father himself has personally called the Son to be Messiah! Out of the Fathers great love for the Son, the Father shows the Son all that he is doing. Jesus has always been on the inside of the Fathers plan-making, and there is no one who understands more fully what the Father wishes to accomplish better than the Son, especially as he understands his role in that plan perfectly. The Son has come to accomplish what the Father is doing, in complete obedience to the Fathers plan. What are the greater works? Jesus addresses them in 5:21, but here is Lenskis description: These greater works are the raising of the spiritually dead, the final raising of the bodily dead, and the last judgment. They are greater because they are fuller and loftier manifestations of the same power that displayed itself [page] in the incidental miracles.4 Finally, Jesus narrows down the specific scope of the work that he will address through the course of this particular passage: in particular, Jesus is referring to the work of giving life toand withholding life from whomever he will. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will (5:21). To whomever the Son desires to give life, he gives it, with just as much power and authority as the Father who raises the dead. But it is crucial to read this verse in contextwe are not seeing evidence of a chaotic, scattered approach to life-giving within the Godhead. It is not as though the Father has been busy at his work of giving life for awhile, and now the Son (unbeknownst to the Father) takes up the work too, giving life to whomever he will. Yes, the Son only gives life to whomever he will, but he has just told us also that he only does whatever he sees his Father doing, and that his Father loves him enough to bring him fully into his plans. The Son has the authority to give life to anyone at all that he desires to; but he limits himself to do the work of the Father only. 5:22-24 The Judgment of the Son: At the same time, Jesus states that the choice of granting life is his own. He says, The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father
4 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 382-83.

(5:22-23a). Even though the Son does nothing on his own, but does only what he sees his Father doing, the Father has still placed the role of judgment exclusively into the hands of his Son. The Father and the Son are so attuned to one another that the Son refuses to do anything apart from the work of the Father, and the Father delegates his authority as the Judge of all the Earth to the Son! The reasoning behind this separation of powers is fundamentally different from the reasoning of Americas founding fathers for the separation of powers of the three branches of government. The founding fathers did not trust people, but believed that power always corrupts. So, they designed the government to prevent a single person from holding all the power, creating a system of checks and balances so that everyone could call out everyone elses greed and corruption! This is not the case with the relationship of the Father and the Son. The Son does nothing apart from the Father because he loves his Father, and the Father has granted all judgment to the Son because he loves the Son. In particular, the Father wants all to honor the Son as they honor the Father. By making the Son the decision-maker, no one can come to the Father apart from the Son. But on what basis will the Son judge? The criterion for the Sons judgment is faith:
5:23b

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. It is interesting that Jesus insists up on the importance of hearing my word, yet believing him who sent me, rather than believing me. Why hear the word of the Son in order to believe in the Father? In fact, Jesus is not excluding faith in himself, but rather insisting that the Father and the Son are so integrally connected that you cannot have one apart from the other. There is a three-step logic at play here: (1) Only those who honor the Son honor the Father; (2) Only those who hear the word of the Son and believe him who sent the Son [the Father] have eternal life; therefore, (3) the only way to believe him to sent the Son, and therefore to have eternal life, is to honor the Son by believing his word. Honoring the Son is honoring the Father, and believing in the Father is believing in the Son. You cannot have the Father apart from the Son, and you cannot have the Son apart from the Father. And this is incredibly good news! The two decision-makers are both on board! The Father loved you enough to send his Son to save you, and the Son loved you enough to endure the cross for you! You cannot have just one Person in the Trinity, because you get both the Father and the Son! And, although Jesus doesnt mention him here,5 the Father and the Son together send their Holy Spirit as a deposit and guarantee of the glory that we stand to inherit in eternity (Eph. 1:13-14). This is also, however, a dire warning: Ignore the Son at your own peril. Lenski writes, Every religious profession and practice, whether by individuals or by organizations, that does not honor the Son, our Redeemer and our Judge, has its sentence of condemnation here recorded.6 Whoever has the Father and the Son in this way does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (5:24b). We see here that judgment in this passage refers to negative judgment, or condemnation. To gain the Father and the Son is to gain eternal life; to reject them is to come under
5 Jesus likely does not mention the Holy Spirit here because he is only now beginning to explain the relationship that he, the Son, shares with the Father. Only toward the end of Jesus earthly ministry, after Jesus has explained his relationship to the Father at length, does he explain the Person and work of the Holy Spirit in John 14-16. 6 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 388.

condemnation, not having passed from death to life. Life or Condemnationthere are no other alternatives. Jesus has more to say on this topic in the following section. 5:25-29 The Life of the Father and the Son: 5:25 is an introduction to this final section in the passage where Jesus expands upon and clarifies what he has already said up to this point. In v. 25, Jesus states, Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. In this statement, Jesus speaks of the voice of the Son of God, who brings the dead to life. In 5:26-29, Jesus explains what he means. First, Jesus states more clearly that the Son does indeed have life in himself: For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself (5:26). In 5:21, Jesus has stated, For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. Here, Jesus clarifies by what authority the Son is capable of giving life: the Son may give life to whom he will because the Father has granted that the Son should have life in himself. The Son possesses life, which is his to dispense as he will, since the Father has granted that the Son should have life in himself just as the Father does. God alone is the giver of life; therefore, Jesus is claiming again to be God. Second, Jesus reasserts his authority to judge: And he [the Father] has given him [the Son] authority to execute judgment, for he is the Son of Man (5:27). Jesus had already made this point in 5:22-24; however, Jesus now reveals a new component to the rationale for the Fathers giving the Son the authority to execute judgment. The Father has given the Son authority to execute judgment, for the Son of God is the Son of Man.7 The Son of Man is a reference to a figure in Daniel 7. In the passage, Daniel describes a vision of the throne room of God, where the Ancient of Days took his seat....a thousand thousands served him; and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment and the books were opened (Daniel 7:9-10). As he continues to watch the vision, he sees something remarkable:
13

I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14) Claiming to be the Son of Man affirms much more than simply Jesus humanityalthough not less than Jesus humanity. The Son of Man stands before the Ancient of Days to receive an everlasting dominion, a kingdom that shall not be destroyed, and a glory that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.
7 See note belowLenski corrects my exegesis by pointing out that the reference is not to the Son of Man (articles before both nouns), but mans son (anarthrous).

What kind of human could possibly inherit such a position? Not even David or Solomon enjoyed such a kingdom! Lenski, however, once again corrects my exegesis: In huios anthropou neither noun has the article. This designation is not equivalent to ho huios tou anthropou, the Son of man, which Jesus constantly used as a title when referring to himself. Compare on this title the remarks on 1:51. The Son was born man (1:14), the son of a human being, anthropou (not denoting sex) not andros (which denotes a male). True, the Virgin birth is here not specifically predicated, because anthropos may refer to either sex; and yet it is predicated, because Jesus speaks this word only with reference to his mother. What he tells the Jews is that only in one way, by a gift from the [page] Father, could he as man receive the exousia, the right and the power, to act as the judge. And this only he, the Son, could receive for his human nature, joined as it was to the divine in personal union. No other mans son could possibly be made the recipient of such a gift as the power to judge. So great is this gift that any mere man would be crushed by it.8 Now, while Lenski is correct to distinguish this statement from the title Son of Man, the concepts are not mutually exclusive. The Son of Man in Daniel is mans son, which is precisely why the Son of Man is such a fascinating figurewhich other son of a human should gain all that the Son of Man was given? In the case of Jesus statement here, to which other son of a human did the Father ever grant all authority to judge? But this passage sheds light on the reason that the Father has given all authority to execute judgment to the Son: the Son of God is the Son of Man [or, mans son]. Jesus is not only the eternally begotten Son of the Father, but he is also the Son of Humanity who exalts all of humankind to the highest position. At the resurrection, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), and he inherited his eternal kingdom (Heb. 1). According to his divinity, Jesus was always the Son of God and the ruler of Gods eternal kingdom; however, according to his humanity, Jesus was highly exalted and given the name above every other place when he was resurrected from the dead (Phil. 2:5-11). The authority of Jesus depends upon his office as the Son of Man, where the Father is pleased to grant the Son in his humanity all dominion, glory, and authority forever and ever. The gospel to us in this is that we humans who are in Christ stand to inherit the salvation, dominion, glory, and authority that Jesus alone has earned in his humanity (Heb. 1:14; cf. Heb. 1:4).9 Third, Jesus hones in on the particular aspect of judgment that he has in mindthe judgment at the resurrection of the dead:
5:28 29

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (5:28-29) Once again, the hour is coming when merely hearing the voice of the Son will bring the dead to life (see John 5:25). The nuance from 5:25, though, is that there are two resurrections here, where 5:25 sounded as though only the obedient would hear the voice of the Son and live. Here in 5:28-29, everyone hears the voice of the Son and come out of their tombs, but for very different purposes.
8 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 395-96. 9 For more on this theological concept, see my Bible Commentary for Preaching on Hebrews 1:1-2:4 here: <http://www.scribd.com/doc/80565006/Hebrews-1-1-2-4-Bible-Commentary-for-Preaching>

Those who have done good rise to the resurrection of life; those who have done evil rise to the resurrection of judgmentthat is, to condemnation. Of course, this is not a surprise. Jesus had stated very clearly that the Father had given him judgment so that all may honor him as they honor the Father, and that anyone who receives the Sons word and believes the Father does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (5:22-25). What Jesus adds here is a certainty of the coming of the judgment. All will be raised from the dead to face the judgment of the Son (who does nothing by himself, but only what he sees his Father doing), and all will enter either into the resurrection of life or the resurrection of condemnation. Implicitly, Jesus is calling us to enter into the life that he offers. The Son has life in himself! Hear the word of the Son, believe the Father, and claim the life that the Father has granted the Son to have in himself! The day of judgment is certainyou and I will stand before the throne of the Son as he executes all judgment (a prerogative granted him by his Father). If life is offered, why turn from it and instead secure condemnation? 5:30 The Righteousness of the Judgment of the Son: The final verse in this passage sums up the whole of Jesus statement thus far. (After 5:30, Jesus begins to address the witnesses to his authority, rather than the nature of his authority.) Jesus states, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me (5:30). One vital observation is to note that Jesus explicitly claims here to be the Son of the Father. Throughout 5:19-29, Jesus had spoken in the 3rd person of the Son, but lest there be confusion, here he claims in the 1st person all that he had ascribed to the Son. The Son can do nothing of his own accord (5:19), and I can do nothing on my own (5:30). The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son (5:22), and As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just (5:30). Finally, the Son is the one whom the Father sent (5:23), and Jesus now says, I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me (5:30). But the importance of 5:30 lies in Jesus claim that my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. The judgment of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, is absolutely righteous and just. In context, Jesus is saying that the justice of the universe demands nothing less than faith in Christ for conferring life. Apart from faith in Christ, the justice of the universe demands nothing less than condemnation. We so desperately want to believe that we are good people who deserve anything we could ever desire, but the Son says otherwiselife comes only through faith in him, and in the one who sent him. But we should never imagine that the Son is stingy. The Son has come into the world to give up his own life in order to offer us the life that the Father has granted him to have in himself. He freely offers the gift of life, but unless we humble ourselves to obey his word, we will never even taste it.